[With more liberation demonstrations and protests now taking…]

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With more liberation demonstrations and protests now taking place in Spain show that the Spanish working class is strong and now prepared openly to fight the Francr regime.

In protests following the executions of the five Basque militants a fortnight ago, demonstrators shouting anti-Franco slogans were prepared to risk the gunfire of the police. Last Tuesday hundreds joined a demonstration in Barcelona, blocking traffic, shouting slogans and openly distributing leaflets before the police arrived.

PETTY BOURGEOIS

These demonstrations are far more significant than the rally held at the Plaza de Oriente in Madrid last week to commemorate the Fascist victory in the Civil War, at which 150,000 petty-bourgeois Franco supporters, together with functionaries of the Fascist regime, were brought from all over Spain to hear the aging dictator announce that Spain was under assault by an international "leftist Masonic conspiracy.

As the demonstrations mount, and the counter execution of police increases - 8 in the past week - the Franco regime consolidates itself behind its last defences of armed force, butchery and torture.

The bastion of Fascist police rule, the Guardia Civil, has been NORTH AND SOUTH UNITI Soldiers march through Lisbon The long-standing division between the north and south of Portugal has been broken down, at least inside the army. It is now in Oporto that the midnight Potemkin-like scenes involving soldiers, sailors and workers, once familiar only in Lisbon, take place.

And these meetings have involved delegates from 18 units in the North, including a delegation from the most northern town in Portugal - Chaves.

The sharpest developments have followed the closure on 3rd October of the CICAP (Centre for the Instruction of Vehicle Drivers) barracks in Oporto, by Veloso, commander of the Northern Region.

The soldiers voted unanimously October the 600 CICAP soldiers led an enormous demonstration of over 30,000 workers and soldiers through Oporto to their barracks to demand its re-opening.

They demonstrated outside the barracks, which are guarded by sections of a "crack" force of COPCON, until 3am on Tuesday when they voted to conduct their campaign from the artillery US BACKS FASCISTS given a new 'hard line' commander in preparation for the coming escalation of confrontations with Spanish workers. Franco now turns increasingly to Guardia Civil as the fractures appear within his own armed forces. The arrest last Wednesday of three more army officers in Barcelona adds to those arrested last summer on charges of sedition.

In this situation the US ruling class predictably emerges as Franco's much-needed ally. Anxious to keep his four military bases in Spain, Ford abstained from the chorus of hypocritical protest and withdrawal of ambassadors by West European governments following the executions.

The deal renewing the US military bases in Spain was signed last week in Washington. As Defence Secretary Schlesinger succinctly put it: "It is ill-advised to allow our security arrangements to be subject to the current volatility of international and domestic politics"

It is precisely the "volatility" of the working class internationally that drives the American ruling class to reveal its true attitudes to The increase of a further 10% in the price of oil by OPEC underlines the need of American capital to show it is prepared for another Middle East war to bring down the oil price, should the precarious state of capitalism in the US necessitate this. At the same time the withdrawal of Greece from NATO, the refusal of US bases by Turkey, the Portuguese revolution and the increasing militancy of the Italian workers, all combine to voted 387 to 7 to support their action. As the CICAP soldiers marched in, 2 - 3,000 workers remained around the walls to support them in case of any moves against them.

In fact, though Veloso threatened to bombard them if they did not leave by Tuesday night, he has been unable to carry out this threat.

Tuesday night's meeting at the barracks was punctuated by the cheers that greeted the delegates from 18 northern regiments in the south. It was past midnight when the 24 delegates from Chaves arrived.

DEMANDS

The CICAP re-opening campaign committee issued its demands. They included calling for an end tö militarist discipline which made them the "guard-dogs of the bourgeoisie"; the removal of Veloso:

the immediate re-opening of CICAP and an alliance between workers, peasants, soldiers and sailors. The delegates from the other units decided to return to their own barracks and fight for "immediate socialism".

The PPD, extreme right-wing party in government, then mobilised a huge demonstration on Wednesday night and marched to Serra do Pilar, opposing the CICAP soldiers' occupation. They were met by only a few hundred workers who had quickly assembled to protect the barracks.

A cordon of unarmed saldiers was put between the two camps to avoid bloodshed, but it proved impossible to stop the advance of the reactionaries. Fighting ensued and shots rang out, in which 60 people were wounded.

The Northern Region commander at this point wanted to send in motorised machine guns against the barracks, but had to abandon the plan because of the superior fire power of the regiment and its good strategic position.

Fighting continued until 6am.

One side was singing the Inter nationale and the other the Portuguese anthem. The soldiers decided to organise another demonstration and elected delegates to go to the factories in the north to force the US ruling class, in its search for an area of 'stability' in Southern Europe as a base of operations to seek out and openly ally with the most oppressive dictatorship in Europe.

For similar reasons it is no surprise to find the ambassadors of the EEC countries now crawling back to Madrid - only hours after the terse statement from the EEC that "negotiations between the EEC and Spain [on the question of trade concessions] cannot be resumed at this time"

Meanwhile the French Foreign Minister, Sauvagnarnes, has let it be known that as far as he is concerned trade talks with Spain -vital to Franco, since the nine EEC countries take nearly half of Spanish exports could recommence at any time.

Alongside this, the already massive and still growing European investment in Spain depends, in a situation. of world economic crisis, for its profitability on the fascist destruction of the trade unions and workers organisations and the consequently low wages of Spanish wOrkers.

For these reasons, the capitalist class, either in Western Europe or in Spain itself, is unable, even if some liberal elements would prefer, to replace Franco with a stable bourgeois democracy.

The extension of democratic tights to the Spanish working class will come immediately into conflict with the profitability of capitalist investment in Spain. That is why the only successor to Fascism can be a workers' republic.

The establishment of a united front of workers' parties to lead general strike action to bring down Franco must, therefore, be the first step towards the formation of a workers' government in Spain.

Lisbon itself, of course, has not been quiet this week. On Monday workers demonstrated in support of the RACIS "red regiment" after its commander, Dinis de Almeida, said on RadioClub that he feared an attack on the barracks. Three cannons now adorn the front of the barracks and 30 soldiers are permanently on guard.

At Beja airbase the order to transfer 40 pilots had to be fascist militants on September 27th by Franco has forced Spanish Communist Party General Secretary Carillo to retreat on his pledge of ment of hat anal unity eder Bourbon heir apparent Prince Juan Carlos. (see article in Socialist Press of October 1st).

Franco's side on the balcony of the Royal Palace in Madrid at a fascist rally to celebrate the executions and bolster the shift to extreme repression by the regime, Carillo gave an interview to a 'liberal' Paris magazine.

said"to le note franco by", an Carlos for the road to be open to democracy ... Juan Carlos is only a puppet" Attempting his own tracks, he criticised those who looked to a political solution for Spain under Franco's nominee:

CARILLO BACKTRACKS The execution of five antiAfter Juan Carlos appeared at A wave of protest swept the Israeli ports of Haifa and Ashdod last week following the jail sentence inflicted on dockworkers' leader Yeochoua Peres.

He faced a two month jail of calling a strike in the ports VS "It is a political mistake, as I have already said; the process of democratising Spain will take place without Juan Carlos, if not against him"

Carillo's latest 'formulae' for democracy in Spain are an obscene hypocrisy. A month ago he was proposing collaboration with this reactionary Prince - only when Juan Carlos appears in public at Franco's elbow the day after the executions are the Stalinist leaders forced to. take their distance from the murderer's apprentice. And Carillo confirmed that the CP fully intends to force a "peaceful road' on Spanish workers, and that he fears above all the prospect of revolutionary struggle: "I think, I still hope that despite the latest murders ordered by Franco one can avoid a civil war and bring in democracy without generalised violence breaking out. But if the regime applied new death sentences it risks unleashing popular movement and condemning Spain to a bloodbath"

ZIONISTS JAIL UNION LEADER without giving the period if prior warning laid down by the Zionist state's anti-working class The sentence on Peres is the most serious ever brought against a member of the labour mc vement in Israel for purely trade union 'offences'

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fighters about to face execution, the wave. of

against this and elected a 'CICAP re-opening committee' '. On 6th

term, plus a fine of over three hundred pounds, for the 'crime'